My LQS has a Handiquilt Sweet 16 she wants to rent, and I want to rent it! The problem is she doesn't have any clue what to charge...

Have any of you rented a longarm? What was the going rate?

She also has a big sucker with pantographs that she wants to rent. Same issue.

I want feedback. How much do you pay to rent? What machine was it? How long did it take you to quilt? Did this include the setup of the quilt (loading)? :shock:

I am curious about this also...

I own a longarm but am not that experienced with it. I came upon a LQS that has a Lennie to rent. She charges $20.00 for lessons for 1 hour. She also said the quilt will be loaded but you can bring in something you are working on if you want and we can load that as well but it takes longer and eats up that 1 hour. Hope this helps!

In my area, only one quilt shop that I know of rents the machine to users. They charge $20.00 per hour and require that the renter take lessons before renting. The lessons cost $250.

Ouch!

The LQS here siad she would charge $25.00 for the lesson and $20.00 per hour. You pay from the time you begin loading your quilt till you take it off.

She also said it would take a few hours to do it. But that depends on what you want on it.
This was for the 16 inch. She is now at the 18 inch and it is computerized. I would just have to move the machine back to the start of each line.

One of our LQS has Gammill's, the Statler and she charges
$20 an hour. There is a $1 charge for a broken needle and $3 for thread. There is a $10 charge for your first time as there is an aide to help you and try to train you. There is an aide each day but the first time alot of help is needed. I have done 3 quilts there and not spent over 3 hours on the king-sized ones.

I am in the process of scheduling lessons and rental time here at an APQS studio here in Florida. To rent their machines, you have to take an all day hands on lesson which is for$125 and that includes a zipper set which my understanding enables you to get your quilt ready and reduce loading time. Really yave no clue about longarming at all, so looking forward ton the lesson.

The studio charges $20 an hour for rental plus cost of thread. The time it takes to finish quilting depends on the size of the quilt and the quilt design you choose, I've been told that quilting a queen size with a simple all over design will be about four hours, didn't catch if that includes loading time or not.

Have my lesson scheduled in ten days, can't wait!

One place that rents a Gammill it was 100.00 a day (6 hours) or 20 per hour. They also required training and that was 100. The other place that was renting in the area has closed, they were way cheaper, but also required training.

My LQS has three different HQ's for rent. She charges $50 per day for rent and you must buy a set of leaders from her so your quilt is loaded and ready to go when you get there. She charges $.02 per square inch to do it for you, which works out to about $100 for a twin size quilt. I decided to buy my own LA and do my own. It should pay for it's self in about a year.

For all those of you who are thinking about renting time on an la. They are not easy to run I mean it takes practice and lots of it. I wanted a la really bad until I got one. I do not like to use it the learning curve is really long, not hard but you need lots of time. hence I have a really good longer who does my quilts . They come back beautifully quilted. I would advice find a friend who will help you use hers for a trial run. To see if you want to long arm first. Just my experence. some of us are longarmers and some of us are not, many$$$$$ later I found out I'am a quilter.

I took two lessons, one for $50 and one for $20. I now pay $15 per hour on her machine plus $2 for each bobbin that I use.

its $10 an hour where i live and $100 to take the setup class before you're allowed to be a renter.

I just found a place that's an hour from me and I'm so excited! $100 for the certification class, then $12/hr for the use of them. I'm glad to see so many informational posts here. I wondered what the time expectation is (4 hours for a Queen is a good rule of thumb to know - I realize that varies a ton by patterns chosen).

I can't wait to try it out! I'm so glad I saved some of my Christmas money!

Our LQS rents out their mid-arm for $50 per day. You have to take the introductory lesson first which is $10 but is refunded when you rent the machine. If you take a friend who also knows how to load a quilt, you can probably finish two twin/double quilts in a day using an all over meander. If you use the pantograph it is slower. I so agree with Clair- they are not easy to run and it takes a lot of practice for everything to become automatic. It takes quite a while to load and you have to stop every so often as the bobbin runs out after two or three passes. I now have a lot more respect for LA"ers and understand why they charge what they do. Long arming will not be my new career and I'm so glad I found this out before I bought my own machine. I don't want to work that hard every day for other people.

Here it was $17.50 per hour with 4 hour minimum. That was a few years ago.She changed it from full days cause most people got it done faster. A class to learn was required. I rented like 7 times. My queen size always took at least 5 hours and I didn't quilt that close, didn't have to rip and wasn't fussy. Freehand is faster than a panto if you know how and know what you want. Planning how you want to quilt it can take time so plan that ahead of time.

I have a mid arm and it does take time and practice. My grandson started using it 3 years ago when he was 9, he is excellent. Plan to take time and perhaps not put your "best one ever" as your first project when you rent.

I wish there was a place near me to TRY my hand at it....I have played at the shows, and really, doubt that it is my next career, but it would be fun to just TRY it out! I have a friend with a Statler that said to come any time and she will show me how to use it, but that thing scares me since I know what she has into it! YIKES....

sounds like what is done around here and I would still have to drive around 60 miles one way

A local place is $20 an hour for beginners, $15 for experienced quilters with a required training that costs $75.

I think this would be a really good investment to find out if you want to own a long arm or even do your own quilting on a rental machine.

I do plan to do this - someday. :)

a local shop ...well two hours away, charges 10.00 dollars an hour, and requires a lesson to learn how to use the handi quilter for 25.00...I went to a shop closer to my house and they charged 75.00 to learn to use the machine and 25.00 an hour to rent it......

I feel very lucky-My LQS charged me 75$ for initial class, provided batting for practice sandwich, gave me discount coupon for one hour rental and only charges 10$/hr Only problem is can only go when one particular person is there so timing is tight(evenings and weekends). First quilt I did I took 3 hours including loading time and it was worth evry penny-only other charge was for thread I bought at store which was 18$ for spool. Guess I got a good deal after all and really enjoyed. Computerized auto stitch thing is additional class and fee Oh and I got a booklet with the idiots guide to setting up the machine with my class.

We have a local shop that rents a Gammill for $50 a day. 3-4 people go together and split the cost, we can quilt up to
2 king and a few smaller quilts in one day, we all help set up the quilt and help quilt it if one of us needs help. Some days the owner has fun classes and we join in, she also has a crock-pot night for a few dollars, quilting, fun and eating!! We drive one hour to get there and usually have dinner before we drive home. She is the only one in this area that does this.
I go at least 3 times a year.

before i bought my machine i went to a shop that charged a $50 (Certification Class) then you could rent time for $20 an hour-
i've been doing to the same thing for 8 years now-
the certification class teaches you to thread the machine, wind bobbins - adjust tension- clean- load the quilt---and quilt a practice quilt using the stitch regulator- and without it- using the stylus lazer pointer with a pantograph- using a stencil, doing free motion- marked and unmarked---it is a 4 hour class-
where i first did this the owner insisted you could easily quilt queen sized quilts in 2 hours (something i've never been able to do in 8 years)
i do have a few customers who have taken the class and every now & then come in and quilt a special quilt they want to do all them selves- it generally does wind up costing them less than it would to just pay to me to do it for them- and they enjoy it- they all still do pay me to do quilts for them too- just because they would rather just make tops- but every now & then they have one they want to be able to say they did completely start to finish.

$100.00 to do your own twin size quilt! goodness, i'd pay to have someone else do it for that much. well not really! that is too much.

My LQS is in Ephrata and she charges .99 a sguare inch and $1 per bobbin. No preclasses needed and it is on an Innova. My first time I did 2 queens in one day. Just a simple loop de loop.